There is a storefront type printer that is installed in a shop, to make it possible to print out images stored in digital cameras, camera phones, memory cards and the like at the store front. A supervisor of such a printer needs to check the remaining amount of print paper at regular intervals and when necessary, to supply paper not to run out of.
Since the procedure is bothersome, however, a device that monitors the remaining amount of paper and warns of a lack of paper when the remaining gets under a specific quantity is known for example from Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2000-267520. The device is also possible to predetermine several patterns of the specific quantity and program respectively different predetermined amounts for either peak hours or bottom hours of paper consumption. This system allows warning of a lack of paper at an appropriate time according to the amount of paper consumption.
However, in a case of the foregoing device, a supervisor of the device needs to take extra effort to program the specific amount in advance in order to be encouraged to supply paper at a proper time. Moreover, where the consumption of paper changes from various kinds of factors including the location of shops, a day of the week and sale days, and a combination of these factors, like in the aforementioned storefront type printer, it is very burdensome and unpractical to program the necessary amounts one by one based on these diverse conditions.